May 2, 2005 - Could Duff beer have a competitor for Homer Simpson's affection?

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It appears that Isotopes beer, sold the last three baseball seasons exclusively at Isotopes Stadium in Albuquerque, may get wider distribution. A new partnership has taken over Assets Grille & Brewing Co., which produced Isotopes beer under contract, and will change the name of the brewery-restaurant to Isotopes Brewing Co. The group has a 10-year agreement with the baseball club to use the name for its beer.

The Isotopes club takes its name primarily from an episode of the Simpsons animated television show. In it, Homer stages a hunger strike to keep the Duff Beer Corp. and the mayor of Albuquerque from stealing his hometown Double A team, the Springfield Isotopes.

When baseball returned to Albuquerque in 2002, rather than calling the team the Dukes as the Triple A team was previously known for 29 years, the club owners chose Isotopes, in part for merchandising reasons.

Assets has brewed two beers for the baseball club - Triple A Blonde and Slammin' Amber. Nick LoBue, director of sales and marketing for the Isotopes, said the plan always was to bottle the beer and sell it outside the stadium. "It's going to be good for the Istotopes," he said. "It's a marketing arm of the whole picture." The beer will be distributed by the Joe G. Maloof Co. Bottles will bear the team's red, black and yellow colorsw and electron logo.

A new sign for the Isotopes Brewing Co. should be in place by the end of May.